Public Service upgrades transmission lines in Little Falls, installs monopoles

LITTLE FALLS - A massive project being undertaken by Public Service Electric & Gas to upgrade overhead transmission lines from Jersey City to Roseland is running through the township, and with it is coming a number of monopoles.

As part of Public Service Electric & Gas Company's Northeast Grid Reliability Project, the utility is upgrading overhead wires to accommodate higher voltage and in the process is switching out lattice towers for monopoles. At right is one such monopole recently built in Little Falls just off of Long Hill Road, next to an old lattice tower. (Staff Photo by Demitrius Balevski)

John Margaritis, spokesman for PSE&G, said they are upgrading the overhead transmission lines to provide for greater voltage, as per a directive from PJM Interconnection, the entity that oversees electric transmission in 13 states.

"They are constantly looking to see where there are weaknesses in the system, looking out five to ten years, and looking at consumption voltages," he said. "They determined we needed to upgrade from 138,000 volts to 238,000 volts."

The project, dubbed the Northeast Grid Reliability Project, is having the utility replace 50 miles of overhead transmission wires from the Hudson Switching Station in Jersey City to the Roseland Switching Station in Roseland, according to PSE&G.

As part of that project, the utility is replacing lattice towers that once held up the lines, with monopoles, many of which are already up along the utility's right of way in Little Falls.

"We can carry 230,000 volts on the lattice towers, but aesthetically, the feedback we get is that people like the monopoles better," Margaritis said. The monopoles range in height from between 130 to 155 feet depending on the terrain, he said.

"You look at how much ground space the lattice towers that were there take up, and it's a huge difference," Margaritis said. "The monopoles are also easier to maintain."

On a construction schedule posted on PSE&G's website, the company says that Line construction crews will be seen on the right of way in Little Falls off of Long Hill Road, Ridge Road, Clove Road, and Sigtim Drive through to April 26.